Pump

ABSTRACT

A rodless and tubeless pump, especially suited for deep-well pumping installations, has a lower pumping piston that is forced to move through its intake stroke in opposition to the direction of force in the fluid between the upper operating piston and the lower pumping piston during the compression stroke of the operating piston. The lower face of the pumping piston has a greater amount of surface area exposed to pressurized fluid from the operating piston than the upper face, thereby causing the pumping piston to rise during its intake stroke in opposition to fluid thereabove that is forced downwardly by the operating piston during its compression stroke. During the compressionrelease stroke of the operating piston, the pumping piston completes its exhaust stroke by gravity return.

United States Patent [1 1 Moore i 1 PUMP [76] Inventor: Loren Alton Moore, 81 l S. Ash.

Ottawa, Kans. 66067 [22] Filed: Aug. 15, 1973 211 Appl. No.: 388,449

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 34,808, May 5,

1970, abandoned.

[451 Oct. 1,1974

Primary E.ranziner-C J. Husar Assistant ExaminerRichard Sher Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Schmidt, Johnson, Hovey & Williams 5 7 ABSTRACT A rodless and tubeless pump, especially suited for deep-well pumping installations, has a lower pumping piston that is forced to move through its intake stroke in opposition to the direction of force in the fluid between the upper operating piston and the lower pumping piston during the compression stroke of the operating piston. The lower face of the pumping piston has a greater amount of surface area exposed to pressurized fluid from the operating piston than the upper face, thereby causing the pumping piston to rise during its intake stroke in opposition to fluid thereabove that is forced downwardly by the operating piston during its compression stroke. During the compressionrelease stroke of the operating piston, the pumping piston completes its exhaust stroke by gravity return.

12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PUMP CROSS REFERENCE This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 34,808, filed May 5, 1970. and entitled PUMP," now abandoned.

This invention relates to a pump having particular utility for deep-well installation such as encountered during the pumping of petroleum products from their subterranean location to positions above the surface of the ground.

One important object of the present invention is to provide a pump that utilizes the body of fluid being pumped to actuate the pumping piston thereof in order to eliminate the cumbersome pump rods and other connecting structures often utilized in deep-well pumps.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a rodless and tubeless pump as aforesaid wherein the pumping piston thereof, actuated in response to the compression stroke of the mechanically driven operating piston of the pump, is displaced through its intake stroke in opposition to the direction of force in fluid between the pistons during the compression stroke of the operating pump so that the pumping piston may simply return by gravity at the completion of its intake stroke without the need for assorted return devices such as coil springs and the like.

As a corollary to the foregoing, it is an important ob ject of this invention to provide the side of the pumping piston facing away from the operating piston with a greater effective surface area than the side facing toward the operating piston so that. although the pressures on both sides of the pumping piston may be the same, the total force against the side facing away from the operating piston is greater than against the other side, hence causing the aforementioned oppositional displacement of the operating piston.

An additional important object of this invention is the provision of a rodless and tubeless pump as set forth above which can be readily adapted for connection with other similar pumps in a series thereof so as to provide simultaneous, parallel pumping action at multiple subterranean levels.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partly elevational and partly crosssectional view of a pump embodying the principles of the present invention installed for deep-well use;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, vertical cross-sectional view of the pump illustrating the conditions of the operating and pumping pistons at the completion of a compression-release stroke of the operating piston just prior to the beginning of a compression stroke thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, vertical cross-sectional view of the pump similar to FIG. 2 but showing the condition of the pistons at the completion of the compression stroke of the operating piston just prior to the beginning of the compression release stroke of the operating piston;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the pump taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are horizontal cross-sectional views of the pump taken along lines 5--5 and 66 respectively of FIG. 3.

The pump 10 has tubular structure that includes an elongated, hollow casing 12 disposed in an upright condition and extending for a substantial distance into the subterranean recesses of the ground 14 and a pump head 16 secured to the uppermost end of casing 12 by the conventional means illustrated. A borc 18 in head 16 disposed alongside a second bore 20 houses a reciprocable operating piston 22 having a rod 24 that projects upwardly through a stuffing box 26 in head cover 28 for operable connection to a suitable prime mover (not shown). The cover .28 has a recess 30 therein that communicates the bores I8 and 20 with one another.

The piston 22 has a passageway 32 therethrough that is controlled by a ball-check valve 34 consisting of a cage 36 and a ball 38, the latter being adapted to seal the orifice 40 at the lowermost end of piston 22 when ball 38 is disposed in covering relationship to orifice 40. Below the bore 18 is disposed a fluid outlet 42 adapted for receiving at its outermost end a threaded pipe 44 and communicating at its inner end with bore 18. An elongated, upright valve opener 46 extends from outlet 42 into bore 18 in concentric relationship with orifice 40 for projecting through the latter into cage 36 when the piston 22 is disposed as shown in FIG. 2 to unseat the ball 38, thus allowing fluid to escape from above piston 22 to outlet 42 via passageway 32. As shown in FIG. 3, when the piston 22 is at the opposite end of its stroke, the opener 46 is of insufficient length to unseat ball 38 hence maintaining passageway 32 closed.

Disposed a substantial distance below piston 22 in casing 12 is a hollow cylinder 48 supported within casing 12 in spaced relationship thereto by upper and lower packers 50 and 52 respectively. One or more openings 54 in the casing 12 adjacent cylinder 48, allow the entry of petroleum or other fluid into the annular space 56 between cylinder 48 and casing 12. Apertures 58 in cylinder 48 adjacent the lower end thereof allow entry of the fluid from space 56 to the interior of cylinder 48 which contains a barrel assembly 60 having a lower plug portion 62 threaded into cylinder 48 at apertures 58. A series of inlets 64 in plug portion 62 register with apertures 58 and have a ball-check valve 66 (similar to check valve 34) that controls fluid flow between apertures 58 and a chamber 68 defined by an upright, tubular portion 70 of barrel assembly 60. As illustrated, the check valve 66 is so arranged as to allow fluid flow into chamber 68 through inlets 64 but not in the opposite direction.

Tubular portion 70 of barrel assembly 60 is of reduced diameter relative to cylinder 48 so as to define an annular area 72 between cylinder 48 and portion 70 above the plug portion 62. A series of circumferentially spaced bypass conduits 74 extend vertically through plug portion 62 without intersecting inlets 64 and communicate the area 72 above plug portion 62 with a region 76 below plug portion 62 and above a stopper 78 threadably coupled with cylinder 48 at the lowermost end thereof.

A pumping piston, broadly denoted by the numeral 80, has a first part 82 that slidably reciprocates within chamber 68 of barrel assembly 60, and a second part 84 integral with part 82 and located above the latter that reciprocates in sliding engagement with cylinder 48. The part 84 has a sectionalized stem 86 of reduced diameter consisting of an uppermost weight section 88, a lowermost section 90, and an intermediate piston section 92, all of which slidably reciprocate within a bushing 94 threaded into the uppermost end of cylinder 48.

Preferably, for reasons which will hereinafter become apparent, the weight section 88 is removably attached to the other sections 90 and 92 and has an uppermost tip end 96 exposed to the fluid in casing 12 between bushing 94 and operating piston 22.

A continuous central passage 98 extends the full length of piston 80, opening at the uppermost end thereof beyond bushing 94 and at the lowermost end thereof within chamber 68. A ball-check valve 100 (similar to valves 34 and 66) within the first piston part 82 controls passage 98 in a manner to allow fluid flow into the latter from chamber 68 but not flow in the reverse direction. A cross channel 102 through piston 80 between parts 82 and 84 thereof intersects passage 98 to communicate the same with the receiving area 72. The uppermost end 104 of tubular portion 70 may serve as a seat for piston part 84, in which case ports 106 must be provided th'erethrough for registration with cross channel 102 when the piston 80 is at the bottom of its stroke as shown in FIG. 2 to communicate the passage 98 with area 72. On the other hand, tubular portion 70 may be made short enough to simply cause part 82 to seat against plug portion 62, in which case the extra ports 106 are not required. In many instances the latter is the preferred arrangement.

The second piston part 84 has one side 108 that faces away from the operating piston 22 and is annular in configuration, overlying the area 72. As will hereinafter be made clear, the side 108 is subjected to pressurized fluid during a compression stroke of the operating piston 22 and, while the piston part 84 does have a shoulder 110 opposite side 108 because of the reduced size of stem 86, shoulder 110 does not receive pressurized fluid during operation of pump 10. Instead, the uppermost end 96 of stem 86 effectively serves as the opposite side of piston part 84 for operational purposes because it is the end 96 that receives the fluid pressure thereagainst from operating piston 22 and not shoulder 110. Moreover, the surface area of side 108 must be greater than the surface area of the opposite side defined by end 96 in order for piston 80 to perform in the special manner contemplated by the present invention. Because the shoulder 110 does not receive pressurized fluid, its particular surface area has no bearing on the operation of pump 10. Drain holes 112 are provided just below bushing 94 within cylinder 48 to vent the area above shoulder 110.

OPERATION At the completion of an operating cycle wherein fluid has been discharged from pump into pipe 44, the components of pump 10 are in the condition illustrated in FIG. 2. At this time the ball 38 of check valve 34 is maintained unseated from orifice 40 by the valve opener 46, and such continues as the piston 22 is drawn upwardly in its compression stroke until the dotted line position of piston 22 is reached as illustrated in FIG. 2. From this dotted line position until piston 22 completes its upstroke or compression stroke, as shown in FIG. 3, the valve 34 remains closed so that pressure is exerted against the body of fluid existing between operating piston 22 and pumping piston 80.

The direction of force in the fluid body during the compression stroke of piston 22 is downwardly through casing 12 against the top end 96 of piston stem 86 and similar horizontal surfaces. Such pressure forces fluid downwardly into passage 98 to close check valve 100 and also cause some fluid to flow laterally out of passage 98 into area 72 via cross channel 102 and ports 106. Thus. while fluid pressure from the rising piston 22 is directed downwardly against end 96, such pres 5 sure is also simultaneously directed upwardly against side 108 of piston part 84. Because the surface area of side 108 is greater than the surface area of end 96, the piston 80 is caused to rise in cylinder 48 in opposition to the direction of the bulk of force emanating from piston 22.

As the piston 80 is caused to rise in its intake stroke by the piston 22 moving in its compression stroke. the lower piston part 82 creates a vacuum within chamber 68 to open valve 66 and draw fluid into chamber 68 via openings 54, apertures 58, and inlet 64. This action continues until the piston 80 reaches the upper limit of its travel as illustrated in FIG. 3, at which time the chamber 68 below piston part 82 will be completely filled with fluid.

The mechanism driving piston 22 then reverses its motion to lower piston 22 in its compression release stroke, such action relieving the fluid pressure against side 108 of piston part 84 and allowing piston 80 to descend by gravity in its exhaust stroke toward the plug portion 62. This immediately closes valve 66 and opens valve 100 so that the fluid contained within chamber 68 is forced upwardly into passage 98 for flow through the latter into the large body of fluid located above piston 80 in casing 12. When the piston 22 arrives at the dotted-line position of FIG. 2, the valve 34 thereof is opened by opener 46 to allow the fluid behind piston 22 in bore 18 to rush therefrom via passageway 32 into the outlet 42 and discharge pipe 44. This continues until the pumping piston 80 has fully completed its exhaust stroke, at which time the piston part 84 seats against the uppermost end 104 of tubular portion 70 in readiness for a new pumping cycle to begin.

It will be appreciated that the pumping piston 80 actually operates during its intake stroke in opposition to the bulk of fluid that drives it. In other rodless pumps the pumping pistons thereof are forced by their operating pistons to move in the same direction as the major fluid pressure forces in the body of fluid. However, in the present pump 10, while the major fluid forces are directed downwardly through the casing 12 by the piston 22 during its compression stroke, the pumping piston 80 actually rises in the opposite direction to draw a new supply of fluid into the chamber 68 behind the vacating piston part 82. Thus, during return of the piston 80 on its exhaust stroke, it is only necessary to rely upon the force of gravity to complete such return stroke, instead of using a complicated arrangement of spring mechanisms. In this respect, it is possible that, in various situations, different amounts of weight could be required to properly lower the pumping piston 80 and, therefore, the removability of the weight section 88 of stem 86 is helful because it allows for such varying needs to be accommodated.

By virtue of the present invention, it is also possible to utilize a vertical series of the cylinders 48 and their pumping pistons 80 within a single deep well casing 12 if such is desired. To this end, it is only necessary to remove the lower stopper 78 from each cylinder 48 in the series (except from the lowermost cylinder 48) so that fluid at the different levels can flow upwardly through bypass conduits 74 into area 72 and through passage 98 during the exhaust stroke of each piston 80. During the intake stroke thereof, the fluid is simply drawn into the area 72 until the exhaust stroke begins, whereupon the fluid is drawn into passage 98 via cross channel 102.

It is to be noted that the pump is tubeless as this word is used in this particular field because there is no pipe directly connecting the cylinder 48 with the discharge outlet 42. The casing 12 is used instead. How ever. such pipe can be provided if such is desired by simply connecting the same to the upper threaded end of bushing 94. Moreover, if desired. a number of pump cylinders 48 in a vertical series can be interconnected by means of piping threaded into the lower ends thereof presented by the vacated stoppers 78 and into the upper ends thereof at the bushings 94.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that minor modifications could be made in the pump 10 by those skilled in this art without departing from the true spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, this invention should be limited only by the fair scope of the claims which follow.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a pump:

tubular structure having a fluid outlet;

an operating piston reciprocable within said structure through a compression stroke and a compressionrelease stroke;

a barrel assembly spaced from said operating piston within said structure and defining a fluid chamber;

a pumping piston reciprocable within said structure through an intake stroke and an exhaust stroke, said pumping piston having a first part reciprocable within said chamber and a second part reciprocable exteriorly of said chamber,

said second part having a pair of opposed sides facing toward and away from said operating piston respectively,

said barrel assembly having a valved inlet communicating said chamber with the exterior of said struc ture during the intake stroke of said pumping piston for filling the chamber,

said pumping piston having a valved passage therethrough communicating said chamber with the outlet during the exhaust stroke of the pumping piston for emptying the chamber; and

means for applying pressurized fluid from said operating piston against both sides of said second piston part simultaneously during the compression stroke of said operating piston,

said side facing away from the operating piston having greater effective surface area exposed to the pressurized fluid than the opposite side whereby said pumping piston moves through its intake stroke in opposition to the direction of force in the fluid between the pistons during the compression stroke of the operating piston.

2. In a pump as claimed in claim I, wherein said pumping piston is returned by gravity during said exhaust stroke thereof and the compression'release stroke of the operating piston.

3. In a pump as claimed in claim I, wherein said means for applying pressurized fluid includes a cross channel in said pumping piston between said parts thereof and intersecting said passage.

4. In a pump as claimed in claim. 3, wherein said first piston part is of reduced cross-sectional size relative to said second part, there being a fluid-receiving area exteriorly of said barrel assembly on said side of the piston part facing away from the operating piston for ac cepting pressurized fluid from said cross channel.

5. In a pump as claimed in claim 4, wherein said operating piston is disposed between said outlet and the inlet and is provided with a valve-d passageway therethrough for exhausting fluid to said outlet during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.

6. In a pump as claimed in claim 5, wherein said structure is provided with means for mechanically holding the valve of said passageway open during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.

7. In a pump as claimed in claim I, wherein saidoperating piston is disposed between said outlet and the inlet and is provided with a valved passageway therethrough for exhausting fluid to said outlet during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.

8. In a pump as claimed in claim 7, wherein said structure is provided with means for mechanically holding the valve of said passageway open during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.

9. In a pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said structure includes a pump casing containing said pumping piston and a pump head containing said operating piston. said casing having a cylinder supported axially therewithin in spaced relation thereto, said cylinder housing said barrel assembly and said pumping piston with said second part of the latter slidably engaging the cylinder.

10. In a pump as claimed in claim 9, wherein said assembly includes a plug portion engaging said cylinder and having said inlet, and a tube portion having said chamber and being of reduced size relative to said cylinder to define an area between the latter and said tube portion, said first piston part being of reduced crosssectional size relative to said side facing away from said operating piston, and said pressurized fluid applying means including a cross channel in said pumping piston between said parts communicating said passage with said area.

11. In a pump as claimed in claim 10, wherein said plug portion is provided with a conduit therethrough bypassing said inlet and communicating said area with the opposite side of the plug portion, said cylinder having a removable stopper therein on the side of the plug portion opposite said area for opening said cylinder to additional fluid from other sources remote from the cylinder in the casing.

12. In a pump as claimed in claim 10, wherein said second piston part has a central stem of reduced crosssectional size, said cylinder having a bushing slidably receiving said stem, said stem having an outer end defining the effective, pressurized fluid contacting surface area of said side of the second piston part facing said operating piston. 

1. In a pump: tubular structure having a fluid outlet; an operating piston reciprocable within said structure through a compression stroke and a compression-release stroke; a barrel assembly spaced from said operating piston within said structure and defining a fluid chamber; a pumping piston reciprocable within said structure through an intake stroke and an exhaust stroke, said pumping piston having a first part reciprocable within said chamber and a second part reciprocable exteriorly of said chamber, said second part having a pair of opposed sides facing toward and away from said operating piston respectively, said barrel assembly having a valved inlet communicating said chamber with the exterior of said structure during the intake stroke of said pumping piston for filling the chamber, said pumping piston having a valved passage therethrough communicating said chamber with the outlet during the exhaust stroke of the pumping piston for emptying the chamber; and means for applying pressurized fluid from said operating piston against both sides of said second piston part simultaneously during the compression stroke of said operating piston, said side facing away from the operating piston having greater effective surface area exposed to the pressurized fluid than the opposite side whereby said pumping piston moves through its intake stroke in opposition to the direction of force in the fluid between the pistons during the compression stroke of the operating piston.
 2. In a pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pumping piston is returned by gravity during said exhaust stroke thereof and the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.
 3. In a pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for applying pressurized fluid includes a cross channel in said pumping piston between said parts thereof and intersecting said passage.
 4. In a pump as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first piston part is of reduced cross-sectional size relative to said second part, there being a fluid-receiving area exteriorly of said barrel assembly on said side of the piston part facing away from the operating piston for accepting pressurized fluid from said cross channel.
 5. In a pump as claimed in claim 4, wherein said operating piston is disposed between said outlet and the inlet and is provided with a valved passageway therethrough for exhausting fluid to said outlet during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.
 6. In a pump as claimed in claim 5, wherein said structure is provided with means for mechanically holding the valve of said passageway open during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.
 7. In a pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said operating piston is disposed between said outlet and the inlet and is provided with a valved passageway therethrough for exhausting fluid to said outlet during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.
 8. In a pump as claimed in claim 7, wherein said structure is provided with means for mechanically holding the valve of said passageway open during the compression-release stroke of the operating piston.
 9. In a pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said structure includes a pump casing containing said pumping piston and a pump head containing said operating piston, said casing having a cylinder supported axially therewithin in spaced relation thereto, said cylinder housing said barrel assembly and said pumping piston with said second part of the latter slidably engaging the cylinder.
 10. In a pump as claimed in claim 9, wherein said assembly includes a plug portion engaging said cylinder and having said inlet, and a tube portion having said chamber and being of reduced size relative to said cylinder to define an area between the latter and said tube portion, said first piston part being of reduced cross-sectional size relative to said side facing away from said operating piston, and said pressurizeD fluid applying means including a cross channel in said pumping piston between said parts communicating said passage with said area.
 11. In a pump as claimed in claim 10, wherein said plug portion is provided with a conduit therethrough bypassing said inlet and communicating said area with the opposite side of the plug portion, said cylinder having a removable stopper therein on the side of the plug portion opposite said area for opening said cylinder to additional fluid from other sources remote from the cylinder in the casing.
 12. In a pump as claimed in claim 10, wherein said second piston part has a central stem of reduced cross-sectional size, said cylinder having a bushing slidably receiving said stem, said stem having an outer end defining the effective, pressurized fluid contacting surface area of said side of the second piston part facing said operating piston. 